The Microsoft boss has come out and openly admitted sales of Windows Phone 7 handsets haven't exactly set the world on fire, but as you'd expect he's optimistic things will turn around – just as soon as they “kick this thing to the next level”.

Speaking at Microsoft's financial analyst meeting, Ballmer admitted: “We haven’t sold quite as many as I would have liked in the first year.”

Ballmer believes improvements to the browsing experience, plus the addition of DirectX compatibility to WinPho phones, has kept things ticking over to some extent despite the fact that the platform has effectively stagnated in the build-up to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango's long-awaited arrival.

“I’m not saying I love where we are but I am very optimistic on where we can be,” Ballmer said. “We’ve just got to kick this thing to the next level.”

He nonetheless insisted that Windows Phone 7 was now “a very strong third ecosystem” behind Android and iOS, and promised the best is yet to come once the first Nokia handsets land on the platform, with the once king of the smartphone hardware game having committed fully to Microsoft's platform.

“With Nokia we have a dedicated hardware partner that is all-in on Windows Phones,” Ballmer said. “They are not doing something on Android or [any other operating system].”

That all important first Nokia Windows Phone is set to go on sale globally before the end of the year, while Mango itself, plus the first handsets running on the platform, are expected to start hitting the market in the next month or so.

Two things stopping me from seriously considering it:
1) No obvious models I can see with good all-round specs AND 32 GBs of storage.
2) 800x480 resolution. Was nice in 2009 but I want better than that now.

I think WP7 is just lacking a couple of things to make it a killer success....Innovative hardware design (which is more the manufacturers than Windows themselves) and the ability to offer vendors the chance to customise their version of the OS (within certain parameters).

never really understood how a 3rd phone platform has a chance with apple and android being so established.. they'd have to either support android apps or porting very very easy, or have some killer new feature or integration with other MS software (exchange? office? i don't know i, like probably quite a few people now, don't use any MS software any more).

smiff2,
Good points, actually.
When Nokia's financial report was submitted prior to the official mind meld with MS via Elop's "brain", Nokia were quite frank regarding a major "trust issue".
In that report, under "risk factors" was the point that many Nokia customers would "not want to trust MS with their data and personal information"! Funnily most of the media chose to ignore that paragraph.

But I think it is a big issue.
That is "trust" of 2 types - one is privacy related, the other tech related. There is the problem of, hey, No Do failing. Live Mail on wp7 is ridiculously fickle, there's location tracking, there is a very dubious skype-related MS patent etc etc

Look at desktops: if you use Windows 7 below "Professional", you work on a machine that has a very serious flaw built in. A super duper uber-user account you, as a mere Home Premium buyer have zero control over. Yet, it's there, waiting to be exploited. It is just one example, and I believe in the context of cyber security becoming mainstream news ( thanks to Android/iOS exploits, Anonymous, the lulzy Antisec movement etc etc),...in that context more and more non geeks are starting to think.

There's a lot more to it, of course. But hey...

The market is very unpredictable. We don't know just how big the next iPhone is going to be - wether it can regain interest from new Android converts. We don't know if Nokia can make a difference with WP7. If so, how will other WP7 makers react? What's going on with Google and Moto? Blackberry etc etc etc...

The next 2 years will show more changes in mobile tech than the last 15, no doubt.
If I had a say, MS would be gone Or unrecognisably changed after a big bite of the reality sandwich factors" was the point that many Nokia customers would "not want to trust MS with their data and personal information"! Funnily most of the media chose to ignore that paragraph.

But I think it is a big issue.
That is "trust" of 2 types - one is privacy related, the other tech related. There is the problem of, hey, No Do failing. Live Mail on wp7 is ridiculously fickle, there's location tracking, there is a very dubious skype-related MS patent etc etc

Look at desktops: if you use Windows 7 below "Professional", you work on a machine that has a very serious flaw built in. A super duper uber-user account you, as a mere Home Premium buyer have zero control over. Yet, it's there, waiting to be exploited. It is just one example, and I believe in the context of cyber security becoming mainstream news ( thanks to Android/iOS exploits, Anonymous, the lulzy Antisec movement etc etc),...in that context more and more non geeks are starting to think.

There's a lot more to it, of course. But hey...

The market is very unpredictable. We don't know just how big the next iPhone is going to be - wether it can regain interest from new Android converts. We don't know if Nokia can make a difference with WP7. If so, how will other WP7 makers react? What's going on with Google and Moto? Blackberry etc etc etc...

The next 2 years will show more changes in mobile tech than the last 15, no doubt.
If I had a say, MS would be gone Or unrecognisably changed after a big bite of the reality sandwich